No breakthrough in rape, murder of Pakistani minor

Police have made no major breakthrough in the rape and murder of a minor Pakistani girl even as two new images of suspects were released five days after her body was recovered from a dump.

Punjab Inspector General Arif Nawaz on Sunday evening admitted that "there has been no major breakthrough so far", according to Dawn newspaper.

The authorities have constituted a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab -- the 12th such case reported from Kasur in the past nearly two years. The probe team held a meeting with families of all victims excluding Zainab's.

The newspaper citing an unnamed official present during the meeting said the families were given a new sketch of the possible culprit and were asked whether any of them knew him. However, the sketch could not be identified.

Meanwhile, another clearer picture of the suspect who was supposedly seen with Zainab in a footage released earlier in the week was released by the police.

Zainab's family, however, appeared dissatisfied with the investigation since there had been no headway in the case.

The victim's father appealed the authorities to release all those arrested during protests that broke out in the city following the recovery of his daughter's body.

Countrywide protests demanding the arrest of culprits in the case and for protection of children in the country continued on Sunday.

Zainab went missing on January 4 while heading towards a relative's home. Her bruised body was found a few days later in a dump in the city.

--IANS

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